Heptahelical receptor signaling: beyond the G protein paradigm.

Dr. Lefkowitz’s memoir, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm, recounts his early career as a cardiologist and his transition to biochemistry, which led to his Nobel Prize win. Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D. is James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the Duke University Medical Center. He has been an Investigator of the

Critical physiological events throughout the body are controlled by extracellular signals from neurotransmitters and hormones acting on cell surface receptors. Receptors transduce these signals to alter intracellular metabolism and cellular responsiveness through heterotrimeric G protein/second messenger pathways or through small GTP-binding protein/protein kinase cascades. The mechanisms that control the responsiveness of target organ G protein-coupled receptors include receptor ph